


Death defiance

by Wrathofscribbles



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Gen, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:34:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28841709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wrathofscribbles/pseuds/Wrathofscribbles
Summary: From the moment they met, Zagreus has been the one exception he can't pin down.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. I finished the "main" questline of Hades. I have Many Feelings. **If you haven't** I would suggest you read no further than this note, as there are spoilers from the very first paragraph.

When first his powers stir, Thanatos is too young to make sense of the unique sight they grant him. When first the light cradled within Queen Persephone's flickers, he has never encountered death before and cannot possibly warn her of what it entails.

He is too young to understand loss and grief, but he can hear it in the ghastly wails of a mother bereft, shaking the House down to its foundations. He can _see_ it when the shades go quiet and still in response to the Queen's suffering, when all three heads of the mighty Cerberus droop low with ears tucked back and muzzles twitching as they whine. He can _sense_ it in the swell of Mother Nyx's power as night and stars spin through the House and plunge them all into darkness.

He is too young to understand love and its complex threads, but he encounters one not a week later, as he and Hypnos do their best to convince Cerberus to play, a pile of bones at the hound's forepaws for throwing and fetching. He hasn't seen Mother Nyx since the Queen's abrupt departure and hasn't heard her voice in longer, but there, as he's clambering up Cerberus' imposing form to poke at a sharp fang: a glimpse of her, caught in Lord Hades' shadow.

Her hand is too pale where it rests upon his forearm, her smile so small and weary as she leans in to regard the tiny bundle wrapped in her shawl. He elbows Hypnos (almost knocking him clean off his perch atop the most tolerant of the hound's heads) and points in their direction, just as a flaming foot kicks free of the swaddle and sets the Lord's impressive beard to smouldering. And Hades... Hades _smiles_ , massive fingers closing over that foot and tucking it back in.

"Who's _that?"_ Hypnos asks, sounding as dumbstruck as he looks, as Thanatos himself _feels_.

"I don't know."

* * *

Later, after some much needed rest, Mother Nyx introduces he and his brother to the new arrival in the House. A tiny thing (a _baby_ , Mother says) with mighty lungs, keeping even Hypnos awake during the Underworld's version of night.

 _Zagreus_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know I'm messing around with the approximation of a canon timeline. No, I don't care. I had an image stamp its way across my brain and had to write it down.


	2. Chapter 2

When Zagreus almost dies a second time, frail in childhood in ways they aren't, Thanatos and Hypnos are of an age when powers have typically laid claim to their deities. The specifics are lost on Thanatos yet, he's still just a boy, but he knows floating is as easy for him as shifting is for Hypnos, and he knows that both methods of movement leave little Zagreus far, far behind and struggling to catch up. So he limits his pace to that of their prince, a ribbon borrowed from Mother Nyx tied around his ankle and Zagreus' wrist to keep them closer together. He calls to Hypnos when his brother reappears too far ahead and grabs hold of an outstretched hand when he returns within distance, the pair of them laughing in turn to Zagreus in a fit of giggles.

The prince is bright and full of life and curiosity and the never-ending repetition of the question _"why?"_... until suddenly he isn't. It's a subtle change, at first, his mismatched eyes a little dimmer and his footwork a little slower, but Thanatos reckons that's just because the prince is tired, always pushing to stay awake as long as he can since there's no play to be had in sleep. Then it's his appetite or, well, his desire for tasty little nibbles. Even the shade in charge of the kitchen seems surprised when Zagreus turns food away with a polite "no, thank you" and Thanatos himself hits the floor with a solid _thump_ when he refuses a small sampling of _honey_.

"Are you feeling okay, Zagreus?" he asks, because it's not like his friend _at all_. The smaller boy nods his head and rubs at the one eye like his father's, as if he's tired.

"Mmhm. Food tastes funny."

"Funny how?"

"Uhm. Uhm... like that stuff in the fire? The grey stuff? Remember we knocked down some torches and it went _everywhere_ and Lady Dusa was upset?"

"You mean the ash?"

"Yeah! Food tastes like ash. It's not nice."

He doesn't think food is _supposed_ to taste like that - it certainly hasn't whenever he's tried some - but maybe it's a problem unique to firewalkers? Maybe it's related to a tummy upset unique to them? He'll ask Mother Nyx about it later, and if she doesn't know then she'll surely raise it with Lord Hades.

Except _later_ Zag is throwing stones into the Styx and Hypnos is a jostling weight tucked into his side, laughing as he tries to teach the prince _which_ stones are the best for skipping. Thanatos isn't exactly _warm_ , he never is, but he's comfortable and cushioned and his eyes are so _heavy_. Unaware of the direct skin contact with his brother, and quite without meaning to, he falls asleep. _Later_ can wait for another day.

* * *

_Another day_ is a day too late, the knots tying them together are too loose, and Thanatos himself too distracted - when Zagreus falls, there's no-one ready to catch him. He blinks in surprise when he suddenly floats _up_ without a gentle tug on his ankle to pull him back again, and he glances down just as the ribbon flutters upon his friend's face. A slash so very dark where it rests across his skin.

"Zagreus?"

No reply.

"Zag? If this is a new game, it's not funny."

Still no reply, and the lead weight suddenly dropping into his stomach is enough to ground Thanatos the next moment. He shakes a thin shoulder, taps a shockingly pale cheek, ruffles dark hair and pokes Zagreus on the chest for good measure -

There. His chest. The light within is faint where it echoes the pulse of his heart, and the tendrils normally fanning out through his veins are _missing_. Thanatos doesn't _understand_ , he can't, but he knows down to his bones something is wrong. So very, very _wrong._

"Hypnos! Hypnos, get Mother! Quickly!" He hears the shimmer in the air as Hypnos does just that, hopping through space as quickly as his awakening power allows, and also hears the distinct _lack_ of air aside his own.

Zagreus isn't breathing. And his feet, always wreathed in merry little flames and kicking up sparks as he walks... they're bare, now. Not a single ember in sight, smudged around the toes with ash and soot.

"Oh no, no, no. Zagreus, no, you can't, please. Please! Wake up!"

* * *

When Nyx finds them, Thanatos is oblivious to how time has passed, how long he's kept hold of Zagreus and screamed himself hoarse in defiance and fear. When Nyx's power spears through the hallway and casts a net of star-flecked night under him, he's been floating so high his back is scraped raw from the ceiling, from shying this way and that to avoid the hands coming up from the Styx. Cruel, _vicious_ hands ending in nail and claw alike, swiping ichor down his legs and bruising his ankles in their efforts to yank him closer and tear Zagreus from him, and through it all he'd just lift his friend higher, cling onto him tighter.

And then his Mother is there, directly below him, the Styx dispersing around her feet as she lifts her arms outstretched. Thanatos sobs, relief so profound it _aches_ in his chest, allowing himself to drop at last with the knowledge his Mother will catch him. She does, in her own way, stars swaddling around him as she hushes him, sings soft assurances that all will be well, gentle hands coaxing him to _let go_. And he does, surrendering Zagreus to her.

Nyx gathers Zagreus to her and arranges him in such a way she can keep him on one side, stretching out her free hand to Thanatos. He latches on with both his own, and because she's his Mother and he trusts her as he does no other, he presses into her palm a speck the size of a pomegranate seed, hot as the magma in Asphodel. A tiny shard of his friend's soul, stolen from the greedy claws of the Styx.

"I couldn't let him go, Mother," he rasps.

* * *

It is the first time Thanatos directly wields his power over death - and the first time he saves Zagreus.


End file.
